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Viva Padania!

Padanian VIVA World Cup winning team
The Padanian VIVA World Cup winning team (see this photo on Flickr)

Our congratulations go to Padania, who were 2-0 winners over the Aramean Syriacs in this year’s VIVA World Cup final.

Padanian fans
Padanian fans with their flag (see this photo on Flickr)

The VIVA World Cup is a competition for countries that do not have UN or FIFA recognition. It’s run by the New Football Federations-Board, whose General Secretary is “Luc Misson, a lawyer who represented Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman in a case that led to the Bosman ruling that established greater freedom of movement for professional players in Europe.”

Further reading suggestions: James Montague, author of When Friday Comes: Football in the War Zone, has written a good article about this year’s the VIVA World Cup and Kurdish attempts to join FIFA. There’s also Outcasts!: The Lands That FIFA Forgot, Steve Menary’s book about the footballing nations not recognised by FIFA.

We’ll be passing right through Occitania on our way to South Africa — perhaps we should suggest a game?

Written by on Monday, July 14th, 2008

1 comment on this post

  1. Anyone knows how Grenland is doing?

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The Ball 2018 left England on 25th March 2018 and travelled to the World Cup in Russia.

The Ball 2014 kicked off from England on 9th Jan 2014 and headed to the World Cup in Brazil.

The Ball 2010 left England on 24th Jan 2010 headed to the Opening Ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The Ball 2006 travelled from London to the Opening Ceremony in Munich, Germany.

The Ball 2002 was carried 7000 miles across Europe and Asia to the World Cup finals in Korea & Japan.